Boreal Forest

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Transcript of Boreal Forest

Boreal Forest The boreal forest is the largest biome in Canada and all of the world.Boreal forests take up 35% of Canada's land area and 77% of Canada's forest area.The boreal forest is really important to our country because it provides us with clean air and a lot of other resources like wood.It also plays a huge part in Canada's economy. Introduction: Biotic Elements Plant Life: Coniferous Trees (producers):most boreal forest consist of coniferous evergreen trees.These trees stay green for more than one season.So that the trees can begin photosynthesis early in the spring.Their leaves are shaped liked needles which results in less water loss in the spring and summer than the broad shaped leaves.Most coniferous do lose their leaves after two or three years.Though some like the spruce keep their leaves until eight or nine years,Others including tamarack lose their leaves every year. Fungi (Producers):Many varieties of fungi can be found in the boreal forest.They mostly grow near other plants.Mushrooms are one of the most common type of fungi that is found in the borealforest.Mushrooms can be found in soil or growing on living and dead plants. Refrences: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/grizzly-bear/ Lichens(Producers):Lichens are formed when fungus and algae grow together.They can be found forming on logs,rocks,tree branches or growing on the ground.Lichens are producers and they are important food source to caribous and reindeer that is why they are called reindeer mosses. Moss(Producers):Moss grows on the forest floors,in cool moist places with acidic soil so the boreal forest is a perfect place.Moss can absorb huge amounts of moisture too. http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/beaver/ http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/grizzly-bear/?source=A-to-Z http://www.torontozoo.com/adoptapond/curriculum/f1_popup1.html Animal Life: Birds:Many types of birds can be found in the boreal forest and you can group them into two categories:migrant and non-migrant birds.Migrant birds include birds like: bald and golden eagles,loons, great blue herons,tree swallows, warblers, sparrows hawks,king fisher,peregrine falcons,ospreys, cuckoos, martins,tanagers, red starts and swallows.Non migrant birds include:goshawks,nuthatches,ravens,grouse,kinglets,jays,chickadees,grosbeaks,woodpeckers,crossbills,great horned owls, great gray owls, boreal and barred owls. http://teacher.scholastic.com/dirtrep/animal/bears.htm http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/bald-eagle/?source=A-to-Z Bald Eagles(Migrant Birds,Carnivore/tertiary consumers):These amazing birds can live up to28 years and can weigh from about 3 to 6.5kg.They use their powerful talons(one of it's adaptions) to catch fish.They also are known to sometimes steal their food from other kills that another animal made.They like to live near bodies of water like lakes.They have many types of adaptions like that their eyesight is 8-10 times better than the human eye,they use this as an advantage to easily see their preys from far away. http://www.vit.k12.il.us/eagles/adapts.htm Raven(non-migrant,omnivore/secondary consumers, scavengers):These intelligent birds are often know as scavengers (animals who eat dead things).Though they sometimes do hunt for food.They can prey on eggs and nestlings of other birds, rodents, worms, grains and insects.Ravens also eat carions and they sometime even feast on human garbage. http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/raven/?source=A-to-Z http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTEtMsav10n01YbYcksOhUXq2IK04crvJ5CXxP_p0e05UQoId2qpg Deciduous Trees (producers):the boreal forest consists of some deciduous trees like the maple tree.They loose their leaves in fall and regrow them back in spring.This lets the tree to use lesser energy through out winter which results in fewer branches breaking from the build of snow and ice.Some deciduous trees are broad leaf like birch, aspen, poplar or shrubs including willow,alder and blueberry. http://images.google.ca/imgres?q=coniferous+trees&num=10&hl=en&sig=116315864121152460517&ndsp=20&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=0ewDzxehC7fPNM:&imgrefurl=http://www.minervatreefarms.com/wholesaletrees.htm&docid=8XyOVNUjutgR0M&imgurl=http://www.minervatreefarms.com/images/wholesale_trees1.jpg&w=500&h=375&ei=PqSTUJmhJOLJyAG57oHgBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1066&vpy=167&dur=11&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=130&ty=121&page=1&tbnh=146&tbnw=193&start=0&ved=1t:429,i:153 There are many varieties of animals in the boreal region like herbivores(primary consumer) such as moose, deer,muskrats,beavers and voles. Omnivores (secondary consumers)like the grizzly bear. Carnivores (Tertiary consumers) like lynx,wolverines and wolves. Lynx(carnivore/tertiary consumers):These solitary cats usually hunt a lone in the northern parts of the boreal forest.They hunt at night so they are rarely seen.Their diet consists of mice,small birds, squirrels, but their main source of food is the snowshoe hare.Some of their adaptations include the tuft on their ears that help them hear really well and like the bald eagle they have great eyesight.They can spot a mouse 75m away. http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/lynx/?source=A-to-Z Moose (herbivore/primary consumers):Moose are known to be the king of the boreal forest. They are the largest species of deers.Moose eat leaves,fruits and small plants.An average moose can eat 15kg of food daily in the winter and can eat 35kg daily in the summer time.Moose can weigh up to 500kg.They are large but very friendly creatures. If threatened moose can use their antlers to protect themselves(another adaption).Moose tend to live near bodies of water such as lakes so they can feast on plants that grow near the water. Beavers(herbivore/Primary consumers):Beavers are one of the largest rodents but they only eat leaves, bark,twigs,roots and aquatic plants.They live in the middle of ponds in a dome like structure that they create themselves with twigs,bark and mud.Beavers have many adaptations like they have strong buck teeth to help them gnaw on trees.Another adaptation includes how they can close their lips behind their front buck teeth so that they can eat underwater plants without getting water in their mouth.Also they have webbed feet which help them to swim strongly and easily.Another adaptation is that they have clean eyelids which helps them see underwater and find food or other resources. Abiotic Elements Climate:The climate in the boreal forest is very cold.The average temperature from 6 to 8 months is -10 degrees celcius.The average amount of snowfall is 12 to 39 inches .The summers are short and cool and the temperature is about 15 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius.Autumn is the shortest season in the boreal forest.It isn't very humid in the boreal forest because coniferous trees need the cold to survive in. Soil:In the northern parts of the boreal forest,the ground is permanently frozen.So some of Canada's boreal forest do grow over permafrost.The trees cannot break through the solid layer of permafrost,so their roots have to grow sideways to collect water(adaptations).The trees that grow over permafrost actually help permafrost grow because the trees absorb the sun's heat and the sun's heat doesn't reach the permafrost layer resulting in the permafrost not melting.aAnother thing about the boreal forest soil is that it is very acidic due to the conifer needles which are highly acidic and when they fall to the groud they make the soil acidic too. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/74016/boreal-forest/70834/Soils Location: http://www.google.ca/imgres?num=10&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=aFdRs_qIVXeXGM:&imgrefurl=http://www.sustland.umn.edu/maint/trees.html&docid=GtqmYbFTZappQM&imgurl=http://www.sustland.umn.edu/maint/images/trees2a.jpg&w=275&h=178&ei=vW2UUM7fNMHF0QG63YDACg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=4&sig=116315864121152460517&page=1&tbnh=142&tbnw=220&start=0&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:0,i:180&tx=118&ty=49 http://www.google.ca/imgres?num=10&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbnid=QaNEVQmGyd7ErM:&imgrefurl=http://www.mun.ca/biology/fmurrin/ResearchMurrin.php&docid=2tXJnsP4mU9I_M&imgurl=http://www.mun.ca/biology/images/content/105-2093184752.jpg&w=2048&h=1536&ei=IG-UULaEN8rXyAH64ICYDg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=505&vpy=148&dur=1247&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=75&ty=115&sig=116315864121152460517&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=132&tbnw=180&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:72 https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS9opUOf5HNrlBTe_um1xdUnYqQSgcEw50P_fTr_hv7YtptSXlfZA https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTZdPzFQ8CubgVK0yAzaD_PlNqTXSzMsKzVwcc-ysQDvAg3O9sy7Q https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQp6C_56NF3ZTbux-mivU0fW8UlWUo6FvwiIi7qdaH5OL1fPrax1JivSw https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQQ99Iu5gSw5zOCP6qqYx47vodAFEMD2yCyjAed08hDfF462_1uzg Grizzly bears(omnivore/secondary consumers):grizzly bears are apex predators that usually hunt alone. They eat fish, berries, leaves, fruits, roots, rodents and moose.Their way of adaption is by hibernating.In autumn they store fat for the winter and dig a den to sleep in through out winter. Landforms:There are many lakes in the boreal forest due to depressions that were created from glaciers a long time ago.There are a lot of bogs also because of many glacial depressions and and as a result of short,mild summers the precipitation in the spring doesn't easily evaporate so the bogs stay for a long period of time.Other land forms that can be found are mountains especially in the Northwest part of the boreal forest. Forest Fires:A lot of forest fires occur in the boreal forest.1/3 of them are because of lightning strikes.2/3 of them are due to people because us humans create a lot of global warming which is also one of the main factors of forest fires.Even though humans tend to cause more forest fires,lightning strikes cause ten times larger forest fires than humans.The reason that boreal forest have many forest fires is because conifer branches and needles are highly flammable and lichen which grows on many trees is easy to burn. http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/ict/2learn/kdwajda/alberta/studentwork/boreal.htm http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/learningresources/theme_modules/borealforest/index.html http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/learningresources/theme_modules/borealforest/forest_regions.jpg/image_view http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/American_Beaver.jpg/220px-American_Beaver.jpg http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSfFCjzf2IK2QBUZZQg6vDyW0gCQGHLg92BUto8Bs3W6dBsMB48-Q http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSeZQv1kCSuI7iRWSSKvEdadTvTy-wCzWAVR7CZcDL1uFGeF62J http://www.fishbc.com/adventure/wilderness/animals/lynx.jpg By:Smita Singh AA7 http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/learningresources/theme_modules/borealforest/index.html Quick Fact:The boreal forest of Canada stores about an estimated 186 billion tons of carbon. Quick Fact:Did you know that once every 150 years, each part of the boreal forest will burn at least once. The boreal forest is in a band streching across from Yukon to New Foundland http://www.borealbirds.org/resources/factsheet-IBCC-globalwarming.pdf http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=forest+fire&num=10&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=555&tbm=isch&tbnid=7a8MLkS_uvUeyM:&imgrefurl=http://www.stormchaser.ca/fires/thunder_bay/thunder_bay.html&docid=_u6-jOeNGAK-7M&imgurl=http://www.stormchaser.ca/fires/thunder_bay/Thunder_Bay_Fires_07.JPG&w=900&h=598&ei=JwybUKCwGOTYyAHbt4GoDQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=889&vpy=121&dur=1556&hovh=183&hovw=276&tx=44&ty=128&sig=117454901496800055545&page=1&tbnh=133&tbnw=186&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0,i:165 Quick fact:Boreal forest trees harden during autumn which helps them face severe tempreture like -40 degrees Celsius Quick fact:Some coniferous trees like the jack pine actually count on forest fires to help them spread their seeds which are in cones that could only open in intense heat. Quick Fact:Some birds like chickadees lower their body heat from40 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius to save energy. Quick Fact:Also known as Taiga